FINAL: Morris twins shine in KU’s 94-44 victory over UCA

Kansas teammates Sherron Collins hugs Elijah Johnson, front, as the two laugh on the bench after Chase Buford's converted bucket after being fouled during the second half, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009 at Allen Fieldhouse.

The KU students have started their own free-throw tradition for Xavier Henry, lifting their arms in an X for all of his free throws. He swishes both attempts.

UCA comes through with a rare pair of offensive highlights, as Tadre Sheppard throws in alley-oops on consecutive possessions. The KU fans give out a groan, as they aren’t used to having plays like that go against the Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse.

With the shot clock running down, Reed forces up a three, and it swishes through. This is easily Reed’s best shooting game of the young season.

After a steal by Johnson, Robinson gets the ball with a running start, and he tries to throw down a crazy, one-handed, tomahawk jam. His doesn’t have the lift he needs, though, so the attempt fails, but he’s fouled on the play and makes both free throws.

C.J. Henry puts in his first points, as he drains a three-pointer from the left wing. Nice, high release on the shot from the freshman.

Johnson finds C.J. on the next possession, and C.J. puts in a layup after a backdoor cut.

KU 70/UCA 28 — 7:15 left in game

Reed passes up a three before driving inside to find Aldrich, who gets a tough shot in the lane to roll in.

The next possession, Markieff Morris zips a pass inside to Aldrich for an easy slam. Nice vision by Markieff, and also a good decision to throw it with some velocity, as the pass needed some force on it to not get stolen.

Aldrich draws a crowd inside, and he pushes a pass back on the perimeter to Johnson for a three-pointer. Somewhat surprisingly, that’s Aldrich’s first assist today.

Xavier Henry fakes a drive before putting in a guarded three over a defender. That’s going to be tough for anyone to stop.

Taylor dribbles his way to the basket, putting in a layup for his first field goal. He was 0-for-5 before that bucket.

KU 58/UCA 21 — 11:59 left in game

Two more offensive rebounds for UCA before Chris Henson gets a two. The Bears, at this point, have out-rebounded the Jayhawks, 30-25. Too many KU players are going for blocks and not enough are staying on the ground to position themselves for the rebound.

On a drive, Collins scoops back out to Markieff Morris, who does a good job of composing himself to prevent a charge before putting in a short shot off the glass.

Collins hits a three for KU, and he’s the second Jayhawks to double figures, following Marcus Morris.

KU 53/UCA 17 — 14:14 left in game

UCA switches to a zone for the first time today, and good ball movement by KU opens up Reed for a three. He drains it, and he’s a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc today.

Marcus Morris follows with a strong move across the lane, putting in a leaner to go with a foul.

More importantly for KU, Collins checks back in, meaning his leg injury isn’t that serious.

Reed misses his first three, but Markieff Morris skies to grab the offensive board and slam it down all in one motion. That’s an athletic play neither of the Morris twins could have completed a year ago. UCA calls timeout, as KU has opened the second half on a 16-2 run.

KU 44/UCA 15 — 15:59 left in game

Taylor misses a jumper, but Marcus Morris cleans up his miss, grabbing the board and putting it in for a two with a foul. Taylor looked disappointed by the miss, but Self clapped his hands together a few times, indicating he was happy with Taylor’s decision.

Collins falls the floor with a right leg injury, and officials stop the play. Collins walks off under his own power, though he shows a bit of a limp as he walks to the bench and then to the locker room.

UCA continues to out-battle KU inside for rebounds. The Bears grab three more offensive rebounds on one possession, and they have a great chance of out-rebounding the Jayhawks this game.

Xavier Henry posts his defender up, and he uses his big body to clear space before putting in a shot off the glass. We haven’t seen much of a post-up game from Xavier yet, so I'm wondering if we'll see more of that as the year goes on.

KU 37/UCA 15 — Halftime

Conner Teahan checks in at the 3:28 mark, and he’ll get some first-half minutes.

Imad Qahwash gets away with a travel in the lane, and he’s bailed out with a foul call on KU. The guard hits two free throws, helping UCA’s chances of getting to double digits this half.

Marcus Morris takes it strong to the basket, splitting two defenders before putting in a layup with a foul.

At the 2:28 mark, C.J. Henry checks in and receives a nice ovation from the crowd before his first Jayhawk minutes.

Carlos Dos Santos puts UCA over 10, as his layup in transition with 1:40 left gives the Bears 11 first-half points.

C.J. Henry scraps for an offensive rebound, but KU can’t cash in, as Johnson misses an open three-point attempt.

Mike Pouncy adds two more free throws for UCA, and at the buzzer, Pouncy tosses in a putback off the glass. The Bears more than double their first-half point total in the final three minutes.

KU 31/UCA 7 — 3:42 left in 1st half

On a dead ball, one of the officials kindly says to the cheerleaders, “Can you ask the Jayhawk to back up?” KU’s mascot obliges, pulling back his long legs and yellow boots so they’re not so close to the baseline.

Johnson loses control of the basketball on the way to the rim, so he quickly grabs it with his right hand and flips it toward the basket. The eight-footer falls in, and Self, with a wry smile, shakes his head slowly from side to side on the KU bench.

Xavier Henry follows his own three-point miss, grabbing the offensive rebound before draining a 12-footer on the baseline. The shot extends KU’s run to 23-0. UCA’s last points came at the 16:10 mark — some 11 full minutes ago.

Rehmel breaks the drought at the 4:07 mark, using a pass fake to freeze Aldrich in the land before putting in a short two. The guard has all of UCA’s seven points. The Bears officially went 12:03 without scoring.

KU 27/UCA 5 — 7:33 left in 1st half

Elijah Johnson scoops back to Aldrich on the secondary break, and the big man swishes a straight-on, 18-footer.

Marcus Morris is surprised when a UCA player throws the ball straight to him. He’ll get a steal on that play, but honestly, it would have been hard not to get a steal.

Good recognition by Taylor, who penetrated into the lane and lobbed a pass high to the rim that Markieff slammed down.

Reed hits a three from the right wing, and the run is up to 17-0.

Johnson picks off a steal and takes it the distance, putting in a short shot for two with a foul. We’ve already seen most of the KU players that struggled or didn't play much against Memphis come out with positive plays today against UCA.

KU 18/UCA 5 — 11:50 left in 1st half

KU presses off a made free throw by Marcus Morris, and Collins comes away with a steal underneath the basket. He airballs the layup attempt, though, and KU misses an opportunity.

UCA’s Carlos Dos Santos grabs a rebound over Aldrich, and Markieff reaches over the back for a foul on the defensive end. KU is having tons of trouble tracking down rebounds against the undersized Bears. Thomas Robinson checks in for KU.

Markieff Morris gets the ball deep under the basket, but he composes himself before clearing space and putting in a left-handed layup.

Markeiff grabs a defensive rebound and starts the break, firing to Collins. The senior point guard zipped a cross-court pass to Tyrel Reed, who drained the open three.

Tempers flare a bit between Collins and UCA’s Dewan Clayborn, as Collins knocks the ball away from Clayborn long after a whistle had been blown. The two players were separated, but no additional fouls were called.

Xavier Henry misses a shot on the break, but Robinson goes way above the rim to slam the follow home, screaming out his satisfaction on the way down.

The next possession, Collins rolls around a screen and swishes an 18-footer. That’s a 10-0 run for KU.

KU 8/UCA 5 — 15:52 left in 1st half

Tyshawn Taylor tries a tough pass underneath the basket to Cole Aldrich, who fumbles it out of bounds. KU starts the game with a turnover.

Taylor works the ball in the post to Aldrich on KU’s second possession, but the big man tosses it out of bounds. Poor start for the Jayhawks offensively, as Aldrich has two turnovers already.

UCA out-hustles KU to a rebound, and Rehmel puts in a jumper to give UCA a lead.

Marcus Morris responds on the other end with a turnaround on the baseline.

Self checks Markieff in quickly, as Aldrich is subbed out at the 17:42 mark. I can’t remember KU’s center being subbed out that quickly in the last two seasons.

Xavier Henry drains a three from the wing, and he looks comfortable shooting at Allen Fieldhouse.

Sherron Collins adds a three, but Rehmel answers with a trey from the deep corner on the other end.

7:05 p.m.

Most teams huddle up while KU's intro video is blasting on the scoreboard. Not UCA. All the players — and even coach Rand Chappell — looked up the whole time while the video played.

Also, his crews this year has averaged calling 3.2 more fouls on the visiting team than the home team.

Interesting stats, and ones I didn't know existed until a few days ago.

6:32 p.m.

Barring a switch before the game, it looks like the Jayhawks will wear their red jerseys to go with their red shorts for tonight's contest.

6:29 p.m.

Here are some notes about tonight's game. Thanks to KU sports information for some of the KU notes.

• Central Arkansas has been extremely poor from the three-point line this season. The Bears are just 8-for-37 (21.6 percent) from beyond the arc this year. Take out Jared Rehmel's 6-for-16 performance so far this season (31.3 percent), and the remaining Bears are just 3-for-21 from deep (14.3 percent).

UCA has held its two opponents to poor three-point shooting percentages, though, as Hendrix and Tennessee Tech combined to go just 6-for-26 (23.1 percent) from three.

• UCA has forced 22 steals in two games. Tadre Sheppard and Dewan Clayborn both have five steals each, while Rehmel has four.

• UCA has turned it over just 29 times in its two games.

• Four Bears have averaged double figures in the first two games, led by Mike Pouncy's 12 points per game.

• UCA has no players taller than 6-foot-8 on the roster.

• KU's 57 points against Memphis were the fewest points scored by the Jayhawks since a 68-55 loss to UCLA in the 2007 NCAA Tournament. The last time KU won a game when scoring 57 points or fewer was a 53-50 victory over Oklahoma on Feb. 20, 2000.

• KU has won 42 straight at home.

• Through two games, KU center Cole Aldrich is averaging 4.5 blocks per game. He's also shooting 73.3 percent from the floor (11-for-15).

• Helped by his 27-point debut, Xavier Henry still leads the team with a 19-point-per-game scoring average. Sherron Collins is second with 17.5 points, followed by Aldrich at 14.5.

• Opponents are shooting just 23.9 percent from three against the Jayhawks so far this season.

5:45 p.m.

Welcome back to the Newell Post Live, coming to you from Allen Fieldhouse where the Kansas Jayhawks are getting set to take on the Central Arkansas Bears.

Let's start this blog off with a contest.

Post your score prediction of tonight's game in the comments section below. Entries posted after 7 p.m. are ineligible.

The person closest to the score of the game will receive a free "Kream Keegan" T-shirt, though technically, you will be out-dueling me. In the case of a tie, the closest to KU's score will receive the shirt.

Thanks... I couldn't remember, he didn't play that much. I watched him in a shoot around in Austin one time before a game (when he was a Longhorn) and it was an amazing sight. Well, I guess there might not be a better lefty shooter (excluding family) then...

I don't quite remember what I put on the message board, but it was somewhere in the neighborhood of 91-58 KU. I don't expect to run up the score quite like we did in games pre-Memphis, since coach probably got on them to slow down and run the offense instead of just shooting. Lower score with some sloppy play from the freshmen, but they see significantly more minutes than earlier this week.

I am certainly pleased with the progress of the Twin Towers this year. These guys are dominating. This is good news for program in the future. Once Coals gone this year, we're gonna need some experience and domination down low. After this year, these two should be able to hold down the inside pretty good. Amazing what Mr. Manning can do with big guys.

Steals to TOs are greater than 1 at 8:5 with 7:09 to go. This is good news, regardless of whether or not UCA is cupcake, or not.

Tyshawn is not suffering a sophomore jinx. He is suffering a sophomore catatonia! What has happened to our beloved Quantum T? Tyshawn, are you in a funk, because Self has asked you to be glue? Play your way out of it now, or you are going to be riding pine when Brady gets back.

Looks like Xavier is fattening his numbers on a cupcake, as freshman are want to do. Better than not, though. :-)

TRob appears increasingly one dimensional. He can board, but his scoring, floor game, defending the post, and defending the perimeter seem suspect.

Elijah has four fouls against UCA? How do you say wilder than a March hare and not yet ready for prime time?

The more games KU plays, the more apparent it is that this team has very little effective depth until Brady and Withey get eligible, if Withey is actually good. Little and Releford, lay very, very low, if you want to hold on to your red shirts.

what i take away from this game is that tyrel reed as finally found his stroke from 3 and tyshawn better get to playing better or c.j. henry is going to pass him before dec! and if he don't do it then brady will for sure!

I think for the 1st time ever I agree with Soobawls. The next 3 games dont give us much of an opportunity to get better. All vs. scrub teams. That Memphis game is going to prove valuable down the stretch. I waiting for games like Cal, UCLA, Tenn, and Mich. I dont often take any opponents for granted but c'mon, this team has the most apparent talent since '97 team.

It is amazing how many fewer TOs you make, when you play a slow, small team, than when you play a quick, small team.

Only Cole, Xavier and Elijah went less than 1 on steals to TOs.

What happened to Cole? Very disappointing. He needs to fatten it up against cup cakes instead of phoning it in. A game like tonight's, unless he was injured, explains why he is not yet a great player. He just can't maintain focus. Cole has a split personality. One night he is The Condor. One he is Phone-It-In Cole.

What up with Tyshawn? It used to be he only disappeared against good teams. Something be wrong with Quantum T. H1N1. Injury. Something.

Clair Bee wrote to Bob Knight the night in 1976 that Indiana finished 32-0 and national champions. I quote:

"Take a deep breath. Get your bearings. Set your sights on even greater heights and start all over again.

"All a frustrated young man can expect to see when he looks back over his shoulder is a cemetery where broken dreams lie buried deep in defeat. The dead past is not for youth.

"In basketball's burying place, tall tombstones cast shadows on lesser grave markers and bear words that certify to the greatness of players, teams and coaches who have ground out national titles, undefeated seasons and tournament championships. But only the old men can afford a time to stop and look back to dream of past deeds, to savor the sweetness of the great victories, or to review once again the faded memory of defeat.

"The young man, the leader, rebounds swiftly from adversity. He has been strengthened by the very blow that cut him down. Now he knows the rough spots that pit the roads and the quicksand that lies so innocently nearby. He knows because he has fought his way up that path of agony -- almost to the very top.

"Then, suddenly, refreshed by the driving desire that has always inspired young leaders to rush forward and upward, he grasps the new challenge with eager hands and races for the starting line.

The red uni's represent change. I thought it was a good win against Memphis. For the naysayers about the Central Arkansas game, I say this is an advantage of being an elite program and having the support and funds to bring in opponents into your gym. Perhaps not as valuable as the Memphis victory, but important in allowing all aspects of the starting unit and bench get some good playing time and gain some confidence. Many of us fans know that the competition will get significantly tougher as the season progresses and that games will feel more similar to the game on Tuesday. However, KU has superior talent an has the opportunity to develop chemistry against teams such UCA. Let's enjoy the season. RCJH

seems a distant memory many decades ago we used to wear blue at home and red/blue on the road, we never even owned white.

then a couple decades ago, doesn't the higher ranked team in March Madness get to slect white or colored uniforms and some rare year we were not ranked high the other team chose their color instead of white jerseys so we were forced into whites which not sure we had at the time, I recall some conflict of the like .

too much gin tonight to get the memory working properly...help someone?

I dunno, jhwkfan, I prefer the red uniforms to stay in the closet for all but rare occasions. As one who grew up in the Big Eight days, I still associate red with all the okie and husker fans who used to turn Memorial Stadium into another of their home games, just as Jayhawk fans turn Coors Event Center into Phog Allen West when we play there.

What a waste playing a team like that. Johnson County Community College has a better team than UCA. Half the gym was empty tonight and the only reason the other half wasn't empty is because those who came mistakenly saw an "L" in UCA and thought we were playing Bruins instead of Bears.

Looking at all the cupcakes on KU's schedule, and looking at all the cupcakes on all the schedules of all the other top programs this year and in recent years, I decided to look at the preseason schedule of the great, 32-0 Indiana Hoosiers of 1976 to compare strength of schedules in the "old days" with today. My aging memory told me that teams used to play much better schedules than they do today. Here is IU's 1976 pre conference schedule. You decide.

Clearly, we play a ridiculous number of cupcakes that were not played in the old days, but when you drop the cupcakes from both schedules, here is what is left:

Indiana '76

UCLA
Florida State
Notre Dame
Kentucky
Georgia
Virginia Tech

KU 2010

Memphis
UCLA
Michigan
Cal
Temple
Tennessee

The first inference is pre conference schedules today are just about the same degree of toughness, as back in 1976 (six legitimate D1 opponents in both eras), but today's six legitimate opponents are broken up with what are effectively clusters of practice games for fund raising purposes.

The second inference is that many coaches today will break Bob Knight's total win record, because they get to include all the effective practice game wins in their totals.

The third inference is that to compare any of today's coaches' winning records with Bob Knight's winning percentage, or with any earlier winning percentages, the comparison ought to net out the cupcakes. Knight got his total wins with very few cupcakes on the schedule. The last ten years, anyway, coaches have been fattening up their W columns with about two cupcakes for every one legitimate D1 opponent.

The tail end of Coach Knights career, most of Coach K's , and all of Roy Williams' and all younger coaches than these are going to have W/L statements inflated with cupcakes.

Perhaps we should start referring to the contemporary era as the Cupcake Era and the earlier periods as the pre-Cupcake Eras, for the sake of honesty.

To the comment from "KU", the game was SOLD OUT as usual & there were only a few random, empty seats which appeared to be of the highest dollar "donor seats, primarily in the chair back sections. These are the same types of seats that for years have had a few vacancies when we play a "lesser" opponent. And yes, I WAS at the game. Your half empty comment is not even close.

Cupcakes yes, but look at all the so called top teams, they are playing cupcakes also. See UK, UNC, Tenn, UConn,Villanova, etc, etc........................
And yes UNC played #15 Ohio State tonight but their first 3 games were FIU, UNCC, and Valparaiso and their next game is against Gardner-Webb. KUs schedule is no different than most of the other top teams.

There's really nothing negative to be taken from this game. 50-pt blowouts build confidence. Confidence is good. Every high-major plays a number of teams like this...why shouldn't we? So that we can finish with 2 more losses than, say, UNC and lose our #1 seed to them?

An underrated Memphis team, along with road games at UCLA (which may not be a tough one, but it looked to be at the time), Tennessee and Temple, and Cal/Michigan at home. Not exactly a weak slate.

Jaybate the quote is excellent, thanks. The Indiana schedule that year does appear impressive when we think about the teams as we know them today but...Manhattan had a losing record that year, as did Georgia (9-18); don't know what Columbia and St. John's did that year but Florida State and Va Tech lost 11 and 10 games respectively. I'm just saying, the cupcakes that KU is playing this year might do well in their conferences, i.e., have winning records, possibly winning or doing very well in their conferences; and as you pointed out KU will be playing 6 higher echelon teams. In other words I see no reason why anyone needs to feel that the record is being padded or that the games being played against lesser known competition should be viewed in the negative. Someone indicated on this post that one of the benefits is the confidence that is built by players who are young and need to learn the system that the head coach utilizes. Trying to play 12 pre-season games against top 15 competition (games that you want to win) does not provide the opportunity for the new kids on the block to learn in game situations. The "cupcakes" provide them with the opportunity to be confident contributors when the Big 12 season starts and when we get to March and April.